Lawyers for a reality TV producer charged with killing his wife in Mexico attacked the investigation and promised a vigorous fight against extradition at a hearing Wednesday in federal court.

Bruce Beresford-Redman, who was arrested Tuesday at his Rancho Palos Verdes home, did not enter a plea during his brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. He was ordered to remain in jail at least until a bail hearing later this month.

Dressed in a T-shirt and blue jeans, the former “Survivor” producer politely answered questions from a magistrate judge about his identity.

He has been charged with aggravated homicide in Cancun in the death of his wife, Monica, while they were on a family vacation. Her body was found April 8 in a sewage tank at the Moon Palace hotel.

Beresford-Redman told authorities in Mexico that his wife went on a shopping trip April 5 but never returned.

However, authorities say there is evidence, including traces of blood, that he asphyxiated his 41-year-old wife in the hotel room he shared with his young children.

Court documents unsealed late Tuesday revealed that a Moon Palace employee told authorities that he saw a couple – later identified as Beresford-Redman and his wife – arguing in front of a restaurant at the hotel. The woman was crying.

The worker said that “as he continued to watch the argument, he saw the man twice attempt to physically assault the woman, but the man stopped when he realized that (the employee) was watching,” prosecutors wrote.

Other hotel guests reported hearing loud arguing coming from the couple’s room the night of April 5, including “screams, crying for help and extremely loud banging” that sounded like “a woman in distress,” according to the court papers.

Forensic experts found stains on a pillar in the couple’s hotel room, on the bedsheets and on a balcony railing, which tested positive for the presence of blood, according to the documents.

Hotel records also indicated that the door to the couple’s hotel room was opened at least nine times between midnight and 7 a.m. April 6, with at least four entries between 4 and 4:15 a.m., prosecutors wrote.

“During the April 7, 2010, interview of (Beresford-Redman) conducted by Mexican authorities after the disappearance of his wife, law enforcement officers observed scratches or abrasions on both of (his) hands, behind his ear, on his left shin and on his right ankle,” according to the documents.

Beresford-Redman “said the scratches on his hands and legs came from climbing a slippery wall during an excursion earlier on the trip. He stated that the scratches behind his ear were caused when he surfaced too quickly while swimming and hit a rope connected to the boat.”

He maintained that the loud noises coming from the room were actually part of a game he and his wife were playing with their 3-year-old son, according to the court papers.

According to prosecutors, Beresford-Redman had admitted to his wife before the trip that he had had an affair. Monica Beresford-Redman withdrew money from their joint bank account and told her husband that if he agreed to a divorce, she would give him back half the money, prosecutors say.

Beresford-Redman is due back in court on Nov. 29 for the bail hearing. His attorney, Richard Hirsch, said he will argue that the producer should be granted bail, since extradition proceedings could take up to a year.

“There are many discrepancies between their opinions and the physical evidence obtained in the case,” Hirsch said.

Prosecutors want the judge to reject the request for bail. In a court filing, they say the producer left Mexico after surrendering his passport and being told to remain there following his wife’s death.

“The callous disregard for her life and his children’s safety and well-being, combined with his flouting of Mexican authorities’ demands, demonstrates the ongoing danger posed by this fugitive,” the document states.

Hirsch said he will file a reply to the government’s motion next week, but there had been no obligation for Beresford-Redman to remain in Mexico.

Since leaving Mexico in May, the producer has appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom several times to deal with custody issues related to his daughter and son, and on issues related to his wife’s estate.